The ready availability of a variety of highly flavorful food products coupled with the relatively sedentary lifestyles of a large segment of the population has given rise to excess accumulation of calories in most citizens. Estimates indicate that about 40% of the U.S. population may be overweight. J. J. Beereboom, CRC Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, pps. 401-413, May 1979. Consequently, an increasing number of consumers are practicing some form of dieting and monitoring of caloric intake. This is evidenced by the rapid growth and successful introductions of a variety of reduced calorie products, such as cake mixes, beers, wines, pizzas, candies, sodas, margarines and cookies, etc., into the food market.
Flour, fats or shortening and, in some cases, emulsifiers contribute a majority of the calories to conventional crackers. It is known that portions of these components can be replaced with lower calorie components which perform at least some of the same functions. However, even when a functional equivalent is found, it often adversely affects other physical or chemical properties of the dough and/or baked crackers.
Emulsifiers, fats and shortenings are functionally active in baked goods, including crackers. As well known, the primary functions of these products include structural support, tenderization, freshness preservation, lubrication and aeration of doughs, control of fat crystal growth or development and modification of dough consistency through reaction with wheat proteins (gluten).
Emulsifiers are surfactants or surface-active agents. Apart from their interface action as stabilizing agents for emulsions, foams and suspensions, they also play an important role as texture modifiers through their interaction with polymers, such as starch and protein and by their modification of lipid crystallization.
A shortening is a plastic fat, and by definition, is a mixture of triglycerides having widely differing melting points. Fat crystals in a shortening are held together by internal cohesive forces and liquid oil is enmeshed in the structure. The performance of a fat or shortening in a baked product depends on its physical properties. These properties include ratio of solids to liquids (solid fat index) over a wide range of temperatures, size and shape of the crystals, and the nature of polymorphism in the fat crystals.
The two most common types of emulsion systems encountered in foods are oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions. An emulsion is a macro-disperse system, a two-phase system of two incompletely miscible liquids, one being dispersed as finite globules in the other. The dispersed, discontinuous, or internal phase is the liquid that is broken up into globules. The surrounding liquid is the continuous or external phase. In an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion system, water forms the continuous phase. Similarly in a water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion system, the oil forms the external or continuous phase.
The Hydrophile-Lipophile-Balance (hereinafter referred to as HLB) system is the systematic approach used in selection of emulsifiers. See Emulsions, W. C. Griffin, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Vol. 8, 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., pps. 117-154, (1965) and W. C. Griffin, J. Soc. Cosmet. Chem., 1: 311, 1949. This is based on the recognition that each emulsifier is amphiphilic in nature, that is, each emulsifier possesses both hydrophilic and lipophilic groups in the same molecule.
Emulsifiers have been assigned HLB values from 0-20. These emulsifiers with HLB values less than 9 are lipophilic while those with HLB values above 11 are hydrophilic. Emulsifiers with HLB values of 9-11 have substantially equal affinities for water and oil. A multi-component emulsifier system with the same HLB value as a single emulsifier is known to give greater emulsion stability than an emulsion system composed of only a single emulsifier. O. K. Chung and Y. Pomeranz, ISF/AOCS World Congress, NY, April 1980.
The weight percentages of shortenings and emulsifiers used in most crackers are low. However, shortenings and most emulsifiers have high caloric values. Consequently, only limited amounts of shortenings and/or emulsifiers can be used in the formulations for reduced or low calorie crackers. The amounts of flour in these types of products must also be reduced through the use of suitable, reduced calorie bulking agents.
Shortening-sparing effects of sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (SSL) and calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate (CSL) have been studied in regular white bread and high protein bread. See Tsen et al, Baker's Digest Vol. 45 No. 3, pp. 38-40, and 42 (1971). Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate or SSL, added to a sponge at 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent, effectively replaced the normal 3.0 percent textured lard required in white bread or high protein (12 percent soy flour) bread. Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate, 0.5 percent, reportedly, produced an acceptable high protein bread superior in loaf volume and score to the control high protein bread with 3 percent shortening.
Hutchinson et al., J. Food Sci. Vol. 42 No. 2, p. 399 (1977), also studied and determined the shortening-sparing effects in cookies of various levels of emulsifiers including SSL, lactylic acid esters of fatty acids (LAEFA), ethoxylated monoglycerides (EMG) and diglycerides (EDG), polyglycerol esters (PGE) and diacetyl tartaric acid esters (DATA). They found that in order to maintain proper balance in the formulas of reduced shortening cookies, it was necessary to increase the water in the recipes by one-half the weight of shortening removed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,852 the caloric content of cake batters or mixes is reduced by replacement of the normal fat content with a partial glycerol ester emulsifier, the major constituent of which is diglyceride, present in an amount of about 38 to 48 percent. The partial glyceride ester emulsifier is used in an effective amount so as to obtain improved cake volume, grain and texture. The preferred amount of emulsifiers is about 10 to 25 percent, based on the weight of the flour employed. A conventional cake formulation as disclosed may employ about 40 to 60 percent by weight of a fluid shortening, based upon the weight of the flour. Additional lipids or fat, or other emulsifiers, it is taught, can be used in combination with the partial glyceride ester emulsifier to obtain various properties. However, use of this emulsifier with a flour substitute to achieve further calorie reductions is not disclosed.
Improved emulsifiers for use in the preparation of baked goods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,561 and in U.S. Pat. No. T100,503. According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,561, the thermal mixing of hydrogenated stearin with stearoyl lactylate salts advantageously increases the melting and softening points and reduces the hygroscopicity of such salts. In the Defensive Publication, liquid emulsifiers for bread are prepared by blending diacetal tartaric acid esters of unsaturated vegetable oil or animal fats, monoglycerides, unsaturated vegetable oil and propylene glycol monoester of unsaturated vegetable oil or animal fat. The use of these liquid emulsifiers in the preparation of bread, it is disclosed, imparts excellent physical characteristics to the bread. However, neither of these references disclose the use of these emulsifiers to obtain caloric reduction in baked goods.
In addition to fats, the other principal source of calories in most crackers is flour. The protein content of most crackers is low. Consequently, any considerations for reduction in calories of these products must involve reductions in metabolizable carbohydrates (by reduction of flour content, since crackers do not normally contain substantial amounts of sugars) and/or fats and oils.
When the level of flour is reduced to achieve reduction in the calorie content of crackers, suitable bulking agents or non-metabolizable forms of carbohydrates must be used to balance the formulae of the crackers. Such a bulking agent must be an insoluble material capable of replacing the lost flour or starch in the formulations. The rheological properties of the flour and starch must be adjusted to successfully replace the flour and starch. A number of commercially available products, natural and synthetic, have been used as bulking agents for fats and carbohydrates in various reduced calorie baked products as disclosed in Beereboom, CRC Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, pps. 401-413 (May 1979), Brys, J. Amer. Dietetic Assoc., Vol. 69 No. 6, pp. 50-55 (1976) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,794. These products include cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, xanthan gum, polydextrose, polyglycerol esters, polyoxyethylene fatty acid esters and sucrose polyester.
However, as reported by Beereboom, supra, foods which contain appreciable quantities of cellulose exhibit poor palatability. Accordingly, the use of cellulose products in foods has been at relatively low levels for texture improvement.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,580 it is taught that the cellulosic flour substitutes, such as crystalline alpha-cellulose sold under the tradename "Solka-Floc", and the microcrystalline cellulose sold under the tradename "Avicel", can only be used up to a replacement level of about 20 percent which leads to a caloric reduction in the final baked goods of only about 10 percent. The taste and texture of baked goods obtained using replacement levels greater than about 20 percent, it is disclosed, are unsatisfactory.
It has been found that generally gums and/or gels perform poorly, even at low levels of less than 0.5 percent by weight. Typically, cookies which contain gums and/or gels are gummy and do not spread during baking. Humectant gels, however, have been found to improve spreading and textural characteristics of cookies at levels up to about 10 percent. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,150, low calorie, yeast leavened baked goods, including bread, are prepared from a flour which is a combination of starch, cellulose gums, and alpha-cellulose. According to U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,150, the starch and cellulose gums apparently react with the surface moisture of the alpha-cellulose and with the alpha-cellulose per se to form a flour which has the same film-forming characteristics as that of gluten-containing wheat flour. However, the gluten-free flour of U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,150 contains, on a weight basis, from about 30 to about 70 percent alpha-cellulose. Use of this flour in the production of baked goods in substantial amounts would detract from palatability of the product due to the large amounts of alpha-cellulose.
In European Patent Publication No. 0086527A, published Aug. 24, 1983, it is taught that when a liquid polyol polyester is used to replace a substantial part of the triglycerides in a baked goods composition, up to 100 percent of the flour or starch in the composition may be replaced with microcrystalline cellulose without causing the expected undesirable side effects of cellulose in food products such as poor texture, and dry, sandy or gritty mouthfeel. The baked products comprise from about 12 to about 60 percent of a non-absorbable, non-digestible liquid polyol fatty acid polyester, from about 10 to about 50 percent by weight of the polyester of an anti-anal leakage agent, and from about 25 to about 85 percent of either microcrystalline cellulose and flour in a weight ratio of at least 1:1. The anti-anal leakage agent, it is taught, prevents frank leakage of the liquid polyesters through the anal sphincter.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,768 dietary fiber preparations are incorporated into polysaccharide and/or polyol-containing foodstuffs at a level sufficient to exhibit an anti-diarrheal effect. The polysaccharide materials may be of the soluble or insoluble type taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,165. Alpha-cellulose is disclosed as a dietary fiber preparation which exhibits an anti-diarrheal effect.
Dietary fibers, such as wheat and corn brans, and soy filtrate, a soybean by-product, have relatively low calorie content of 2.13 calories/gram, 0.1 calorie/gram, and 1.0 calorie/gram, respectively. However, as reported by Beereboom, supra, dietary fibers frequently cause significant textural problems in baked goods. Use of significant amounts of such dietary fibers in crackers leads to objectionable changes in the desired crisp texture of the crackers. Only modest caloric reductions in the crackers are possible while some palatability problems remain.
Polydextrose, as reported in Beereboom, supra, can provide the bulk and texture normally attained from sucrose. It is reported that polydextrose can also function as a partial replacement for fat, flour, or starch in some applications. Its use in foods to reduce calorific values is desirable because its calorific value is only one calorie per gram.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,766,165 and 3,876,794, United Kingdom Pat. No. 1,418,544, and Canadian Pat. No. 1,016,006 each to Rennhard, the production of polyglucoses or polydextroses, and polymaltoses is disclosed. The polymers are produced directly from glucose and maltose by a process of anhydrous melt polymerization using edible acids as catalysts and as cross-linking agents. By controlling the amount of acid, either a water soluble or water insoluble polymer or both forms can be produced. As the amount of acid is increased, the degree of acid cross-linking increases and the proportion of water-insoluble polyglucose or polymaltose increases.
The soluble polyglucoses and polymaltoses, it is disclosed, are useful for imparting the physical properties of natural foods, other than sweetness, to dietetic foods of which the natural sugars have been removed and have been replaced by artificial or other sweeteners. The soluble forms of polyglucose and polymaltose are not sweet. According to Rennhard, the soluble polyglucoses or polymaltoses affect rheology and texture of baked goods in a manner analogous to sugar and can replace it as a bulking agent; however, sugar is of course normally not present as a bulking agent in crackers. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,794, Rennhard also teaches that the polyglucoses allow the elimination of 20 to 100 percent of the normal fat, oil or fatty triglycerides components of the food, depending upon the type of food. The insoluble polyglucoses, it is taught, are useful as flour substitutes in cakes, cookies, breads, pastries, and other baked products involving flour derived from wheat, corn, rice and the like.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,794, United Kingdom Pat. No. 1,418,544 and Canadian Pat. No. 1,016,006, in leavened baked foods such as cakes, cookies, and cupcakes, each part by weight of the fatty triglyceride and carbohydrate normally present in the product is replaced by from about 0.25 to 1.5 parts by weight of modified polyglucose. The modified polyglucoses include citrated and tartrated polyglucose in neutralized or acid forms, the preferred forms being citrated polyglucose with sorbitol, in neutral and acid form. The latter forms contain about 5 to about 20 percent by weight of sorbitol chemically bonded to the polyglucose.
Production of a dietetic cookie is disclosed in Example XLVI of U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,794 and in Example XV of United Kingdom Pat. No. 1,418,544 and Canadian Pat. No. 1,016,006. The modified polyglucose powder, non-fat milk solids and emulsified shortening are creamed, eggs are added, and mixing is continued. Water, containing dissolved saccharine and flavor are then added to the mixture. Flour, sodium bicarbonate, glucono-delta lactone and micro-crystalline cellulose are then added and mixing is continued, followed by baking at 375.degree. F. for 15 to 20 minutes. The modified polydextrose is about 26 percent by weight, the flour is about 24 percent by weight, the shortening is about 17 percent by weight, and the microcrystalline cellulose is about 8 percent by weight of the cookie dough. However, saccharine but no sugar is used in the cookie dough formulation which results in a final product of inferior taste and texture. Additionally, incorporation of the modified polydextrose powder in the creaming stage results in lump development and a sticky dough which requires an undesirably long laytime for commercial scale wire cut production methods.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,714 discloses a low-calorie faricanceous composition comprising from about 20 to 75 percent by weight of modified polydextrose, from about 2 to 20 percent by weight of proteinaceous material, from about 10 to 40 percent by weight of cellulose derivatives selected from alpha-cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose, and from about 5 to 20 percent by weight of flour. The polydextrose is a water-soluble highly branched polydextrose containing from about 0.5 to 5 mole percent of polycarboxylic acid ester group selected from the group consisting of citric, fumaric, tartaric, succinic, adipic, idiconic and malic acids. The polydextrose also contains from about 5 to 20 percent by weight of a food-acceptable polyol. According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,714, the water soluble forms of modified polydextrose disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,794 and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,165, function as a replacement for sucrose in many foods. However because of their solubility, they cannot function as flour replacements. The composition of U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,714, it is taught, can serve as a replacement for at least 50 percent of the wheat flour used in food compositions such as pastas, pancakes, and leavened baked foods.
The flour substitutes of U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,580 comprise either cellulose or a non-digestible, acid treated starch derivative or a mixture thereof together with a minor amount of xanthan gum and a minor amount of an emulsifier agent. The preferred emulsifiers are lecithin, mono-diglyceride mixture, sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate and triglycerolmonostearate. The flour substitute of U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,580 is used at levels as high as 70 percent replacement of the flour component so as to achieve a maximum of about 30 to 35 percent fewer calories per unit weight than conventional baked goods.
The flour substitute, it is disclosed, can be used in the preparation of baked goods in which some or all of the sugar component has been replaced by a lower calorie substitute, such as the modified polydextroses described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,165. In the chocolate flavored cookie formulation of Example X and in the vanilla flavored cookie formulation of Example XIV of U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,580, 100 percent and 25 percent of the sugar, respectively is replaced by modified polydextrose.
The present invention provides a process for the preparation of reduced calorie crackers which possess the desirable texture, mouthfeel, and appearance of conventional crackers by partially replacing the flour and shortening or fat with emulsifiers, polydextroses and cellulosic bulking agents. The crackers are intended to have texture, appearance, flavor and mouthfeel which appeal to the general consumer and not just dedicated dieters or persons whose dietary intakes are restricted medically for reasons such as diabetes and excessive obeseness. Caloric reductions of at least 25 percent, based upon conventional formulations, are achieved.